There’s no ignoring the name, “Never Fucking Quit” (NFQ). The moniker not only defines the premium fitness apparel brand’s mentality, but also the attitude of the Air Force veteran at its helm.
While “no pain, no gain” is a well-worn adage among athletes, Born Primitive co-founder and CEO Bear Handlon launched his patriot-inspired fitness apparel company with the opposite goal in mind. Handlon created Born Primitive’s signature Snatch shorts while training for the 2013 Crossfit Games. The purposefully padded compression shorts solved a long-standing problem for weightlifters mastering the snatch that can be described in delicate terms as pain when the barbell meets the hips.
Growing up poor in North Carolina, Mike Loyd was always looking for a way out.
He found one by enlisting in the Marines in 2010. After seven years in the military, Loyd rose to become a captain and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. As a combat engineer, he built bridges. Loyd, 36, is still building them.
